Good Friday in The Lord of the Rings

Did you know that J. R. R. Tolkien references Good Friday in The Lord of the Rings?  I didn’t either until I read something about it today.  In “The Return of the King,” after Frodo and Sam have destroyed the ring in the fires of Mount Doom, they’re taken to Ithilien to recover.  When Sam wakes up, he sees Gandalf and then Frodo and wonders what day it is.  Tolkien writes, “‘Noon?’ said Sam, trying to calculate.  ‘Noon of what day?’  ‘The fourteenth of the New Year,’ said Gandalf; ‘or if you like, the eighth day of April in the Shire-reckoning.  But in Gondor the New Year will always now begin upon the twenty-fifth of March when Sauron fell, and when you were brought out of the fire to the King.”   

Did you catch the reference to Good Friday?  I didn’t either; most people don’t.  Tom Shippey, one of Tolkien’s biographers, gives us some insight into his brilliant and easily missed subtext.  Shippey writes, “No one any longer celebrates the twenty-fifth of March, and Tolkien’s point is accordingly missed, as I think he intended.  He inserted it only as a kind of signature, a personal mark of piety.  However, as he knew perfectly well, in old English tradition, 25th March is the date of the Crucifixion, of the first Good Friday.  As Good Friday is celebrated on a different day each year, Easter being a mobile date defined by the phases of the moon, the connection has been lost, except for one thing.  In Gondor the New Year will always begin on 25th March.”

Reorganizing the Calendar of Gondor

When the church observes Good Friday is not the point I want to draw out from Tolkien.  How he brought out it’s meaning and significance is.  Like a master artist, and to subtly reveal his own faith, Tolkien said that in Gondor, the New Year will always begin on Good Friday.  Why?  Because that’s “when Sauron fell, and you were brought out of the fire to the King.”

The events of that day were so important, so life-shaping, that the entire calendar of Gondor was reorganized around it.  Again, the day we celebrate Jesus’ death is not important.  But what happened when Jesus died is so important that everything in your life should change when you understand it.

Jesus Died to Save Specific Sinners

So what happened when Jesus died?  There are dozens of ways that the Bible answers this question.  For example, when Jesus died, he absorbed the wrath of God that his people deserve, he revealed the mercy and love of God for sinners, and he canceled the legal demands of the law against us.

But the reason I want to focus on, a reason Tolkien alludes to, is that, when Jesus died, he actually saved specific sinners.  Jesus’ death brought you out of the fire; it didn’t just give you the option to not be burned.  Jesus’ death didn’t just create a possibility of salvation for you, but actually was your salvation. 

“It is Finished”

I’ll tell you in a minute how you know if Jesus died for you.  But first, let’s see what the Bible says.  There are lots of places we could go, but we’ll just look at the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross in John 19:30, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Jesus’ words confirm what the apostle John says in verse 28, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’” 

What did Jesus mean when he said, “It is finished?”  What’s the “it” that’s now completed?  At the end of his life on earth, Jesus “knew that all was now finished.”  What was finished? 

In one sense, Jesus’ life was coming to an end, but this cry is more than a cry of imminent death.  The three words “It is finished” is one word in Greek, tetelestai.  This word comes from the verb teleo which means the carrying out of a task or the fulfilling of one’s obligations.  Jesus used a similar word when he prayed in chapter 17, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (v. 4). 

When Jesus cries out, “It is finished,” what he means is, “The work I was given to do is done.  I have accomplished the Father’s will.  I have completed the task I was sent to perform.”

“Gathered” and “Ransomed”

But what was the task that God the Father gave God the Son to complete, accomplish, and perform?  What did Jesus “finish” when he died?  Put simply, he accomplished the salvation of all the people God the Father would give to him. 

Earlier in John’s gospel, John tells us something that Caiaphas, the high priest, said that actually revealed the plan of God in the death of Christ (11:49-52).  Caiaphas meant, “It’s better for Jesus to die so that the Romans don’t come kill all of us.”  But what he said, according to the inspired apostle John, had a double meaning.  In his words, God was revealing that Jesus would die, not only for Jews, “but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” 

In the book of Revelation, the same author, the apostle John, recounts what happens when Jesus takes the scroll from the Father’s hand.  He says that all of heaven “sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (5:9).

What these texts tell us is that Jesus’s death, his blood, secured the salvation of his people who’re scattered all over the world.  Jesus’ death didn’t merely provide people all over the world with an opportunity to be saved, but actually secured their salvation.  Jesus’ death “gathered” God’s children to God and “ransomed” God’s children for God. 

“It is finished” therefore means that Jesus completed the work of redeeming, purchasing, or saving the people whom God sent him to save.    

The Death of a Victor

As Jesus hung naked on the cross, drowning in his own blood, dying an embarrassing death, the world said, “He is finished.”  But Jesus knew what was really going on, so he said, “It is finished.” 

The other gospels say that Jesus let out a loud cry right before he died, but don’t tell us what he said.  John tells us.  When he came to the end of his life, Jesus didn’t cry out, “I am finished.”  He cried out, “It is finished.” 

Do you see the difference?  Jesus died with the cry of a Victor, not a moan of a victim.  He understood that he’d triumphantly accomplished what the Father sent him to do. 

The Lamb of God hung lifeless on the cross in victory, not defeat.  His death won salvation for all of God’s children.  “Finished” didn’t mean “started.”  Salvation for his people wasn’t made possible; it was achieved. 

This means that your salvation isn’t dependent on your contribution but is a guaranteed gift of grace to you.

How Do You Know if Jesus Died for You?

I hope you’re asking this question tonight, “Did Jesus die for me?”  How can you know if Jesus died for you or not?  Let me ask you a question to help you answer this question.  When you die and stand before the God who made you, and he asks you why he should let you into heaven, what will you say? 

If you say anything other than “the blood of Jesus,” then you aren’t yet saved.  Only those who’re hoping in Christ and Christ alone will live with God forever.  Only those who know that they can do nothing to earn their salvation will be saved.  Only those who look away from themselves and look to Jesus on the cross will be gathered to God.

If that’s not you, here’s the good news, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:9, 13).

The Lord’s Supper

As we prepare to take the Lord’s Supper together, let me tell you what Gandalf said after he told Frodo and Sam that the New Year will begin on Good Friday.  He said, “But in Gondor the New Year will always now begin upon the twenty-fifth of March when Sauron fell, and when you were brought out of the fire to the King.  He has tended you, and now he awaits you.  You shall eat and drink with him.  When you are ready I will lead you to him.”  Then Gandalf says, “The King of Gondor…has taken back all his ancient realm.  He will ride soon to his crowning, but he waits for you.”

Through Jesus’ death, all who believe have been rescued from the fire, brought to the King, tended by the King, and will soon dine with the King.  King Jesus has taken back “his ancient realm” and will soon be seen by all as the King of the Universe.  But, in the meantime, he waits for us.  He wants to fellowship with us.  He wants to be with us. 

I hope our study this evening has shown you God’s particular love for you.  Jesus died for you.  “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  He’s not waiting to love you after you get your act together.  He doesn’t just love the good things about you.  He loves you.  Jesus took names to the cross.  If you’re trusting in him, your name was on his mind as he bled.  He knew what you would do, and he bled for you anyways.

The Lord’s Supper is for all those who’ve put their hope in Jesus’ death.  The Lord’s Supper is for baptized believers who belong to a local church.  If you’re not yet a baptized follower of Jesus who’s part of a church, we’re glad you’re here, but we’d encourage you to refrain from taking the Supper.  If you’re a visitor with us and you’ve been baptized as a believer and you’re a member in good standing at another gospel-preaching church, you’re welcome to observe the Supper with us. 

Before we take the Supper, let’s pause and confess our sins to God, remember the cross, and prepare our hearts for the Supper.

  • Pray for God’s blessing over the Supper.
  • The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for you, preserves your body and soul for everlasting life.  Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your heart by faith, with thanksgiving.  (take the bread)
  • The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserves your body and soul for everlasting life.  Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for you, and drink on him in your heart by faith, and be thankful. (take the juice)
  • Let’s stand and sing “Before the Throne of God Above”
    • Notice how personal this song is.